Heatwave could end as neutral conditions signal weather shift

THE sizzling extension to summer has been spurred by a breakdown in synoptic weather patterns, but a Southern Ocean front looks like it could be about to offer some respite.

Weatherwatch director Don White said autumn usually brings Southern Ocean cold fronts, moving west to east across the continent, breaking up hot summer air that pools in a ridge of high pressure over central and eastern Australia.

So far this year the slow-moving block of hot air has persisted where it would normally perish, bringing record temperatures and bone-dry soil to much of the inland as the winter sowing window opens.

But a front is developing in the Southern Ocean, to the south west of Western Australia, which is forecast to bring cooler air across the country at the end of the week.